


What If...? - No. 1 - What if Beat was Joshua's Proxy?

by ImperfectOrphanage



Category: Subarashiki Kono Sekai | The World Ends With You
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-14
Updated: 2016-12-14
Packaged: 2018-09-08 14:37:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8848855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImperfectOrphanage/pseuds/ImperfectOrphanage
Summary: First in the What If...? Series where we explore ideas relating to the Game.
What if Beat was Joshua's Proxy in the Long Game?





	

 

Beat was early to their monthly meeting at Hachiko. The others usually didn’t show up until thirty-minutes past, and Beat had managed to make it five minutes until the hour. It was cold and windy, and the sun refused to peek out from the clouds long enough to give any warmth to the streets. Beat pulled his coat tighter and huffed, issuing a cloud of mist into the air.

“Howdy,” a voice from behind him whispered in his ear, “partner.”

He turned with a shout. “Bwah! What-“ Beat stopped as he saw who stood before him. It was the prissy kid he’d been partnered with in the second week of the Game. The same prissy kid who pretended to die for him and the same prissy kid who’d turned out to be the Composer of motherfucking Shibuya.

With a floof of his hair, Joshua grinned. “I’m a bit early, hm? Well, at least I’ll have some quality time with my favorite proxy.”

“Man, get up outta my face,” Beat barked, but Joshua just shrugged and took a seat. “I don’t forgive you for what ya did. It ain’t right goin’ around hittin’ people with cars.”

Joshua giggled. “I suppose it isn’t. However, the ends justify the means, wouldn’t you agree?”

“No,” he took a seat next to Joshua, “it don’t.”

“To each their own,” Joshua said. He crossed one leg over the other and bounced his foot. The silvery blonde hair he bore, tickled against his face and neck. Instead of further teasing, he flipped his phone out and began texting.

Beat frowned. He put an inch between them. “You ain’t stayin’, are you?”

He looked up, pursed his lips, and returned to texting. “What if I did?”

“I don’t think they’d like you much. You’s too annoyin’.”

Another laugh hidden behind a delicate hand. “My, you’re quite honest. It’s one of the things I like about you Dai-I mean, Beat.”

“I ain’t honest, I’m just tellin’ it like it is, yo.”

Joshua smiled. His eyes sparkled with delight. He snapped his phone shut and pocketed it in the front of his grey slacks. “Since we are so early, would you like to go for lunch? I hear they’re having a two for one sale at Mexican Dog.”

“Are ya wantin’ to get punched in the face again, prissy pants?” Beat put further distance between them but somehow Joshua kept ending up hip to hip.

“Oh, right,” Joshua tapped a finger to his lips, “I completely forgot about that.”

It had been the second day of the second week for Beat. Joshua had convinced Beat to take a break at his favorite restaurant, but in the middle of eating, Joshua had said something rude about Beat’s sister.

Beat didn’t care what people called him, but when they started in on his sister they were signing a death warrant.

_“Yo, man, what’er we doin’ here?”_

_“I wanted to take a break. I was hungry, and I want to plan out my strategy on how we can overthrow the Composer of Shibuya.” Joshua was eating a chili dog with a fork. “Why? Do you have a date I’m unaware of?”_

_Beat couldn’t relax. He leaned against the wall, removed his hat, and scratched at his unruly blonde hair as it fell into his face. “Nah. I just…I dunno. I’m not even sure I wanna play the Game.”_

_Prissy paused in eating long enough to say, “Hm? Why not?”_

_“I ain’t got nothin’ to go back to. Rhyme’s dead, and my parents couldn’t care less about me. I mean, it’s my fault she’s dead. I shouldn’t have run away. She shouldn’t have followed. I killed her.”_

_“Wah, wah, wah.” Joshua wiggled his fingers. “I’m playing the world’s tiniest violin for you.”_

_“The fuck, man?”_

_“Do you think you’re the only one who has suffered? Please. It’s a good thing your sister is dead. She won’t have to-“_

_His fist had flown out so fast the prissy kid didn’t have a chance to block it. Blood spurted from Joshua’s nose as he sat on the pavement with a mess of chili down his front. The hot dog rolled away and Joshua sat blinking in surprise._

_“You ain’t got the right,” Beat growled. He punched the wall and shouted. “You ain’t got the fucking right to say anything about her!”_

_Joshua held a hand to his nose. “You…you punched me…in the face…”_

_“You deserved it. Now git yer pretty boy ass back up,” Beat tugged his hat back on, “we’s got a Game to win.”_

Joshua giggled. “What an interesting development it was. You didn’t realize it at the time, but you punched the Composer of Shibuya in the face. No one has dared lay a finger on the Composer for quite some time unless you count Minamimoto. I actually found it endearing.”

“You’re a sick bastard, y’know?” Beat stood up, kicked his skateboard up to his hand, and started to walk away toward Molco. “Y’comin’, prissy?”

“Of course.” Joshua rose, floofed his hair once more, and walked slightly behind Beat. “I would follow you anywhere, dear, dear partner.”

“Whatever, yo,” Beat huffed. He dropped the skateboard and prepared to glide through the crowd. Before he did, however, he yanked Joshua onto the board and curled the thin, pale arms around his waist. “Hold on or a busted nose’ll be the least of yo worries.”

Joshua squealed. He sounded like a child when Beat pushed off from the ground and soared down the sidewalk. His arms tightened around Beat’s middle and his face slammed into Beat’s back. “Warn me next time you oaf.”

“Ha! The mighty Composer of Shibuya is scared of a little skateboard.” Beat laughed hard and kicked off from the pavement again, gaining speed with each press of the foot. When they reached the Mexican Dog, instead of slowing to a stop, he spun the board around and grinded to a halt.

The Composer flailed, slid from the skateboard, and slammed into the pavement face first.

He looked up, nose red and lip busted. It didn’t take much for it to disappear, but the shock on his face remained. “You…how _dare_ you.”

Beat shrugged. He kicked the skateboard up and held it over one shoulder. “It don’t make us even but it’s a start, J-J.”

When Joshua began to rise, Beat snagged his skinny arm and yanked him up to his feet.

“I suppose I should say thank you,” Joshua grumbled. “But you are treading on thin ice, Daisukenojo.”

“Man, I told ya before, there ain’t no ice in Shibuya.” He began to turn, but paused. “Wait, that ain’t right, there’s plenty of ice in Shibuya. It just happens to be in you.”

Joshua blinked. He stared at Beat with narrowed eyes before falling into a fit of giggles and laughter. “Did you just throw a barb at me? Well, it’s better than a punch. C’mon, it’s my treat.”

“Hells yeah,” Beat shouted. “I’mma buy ten hotdogs!”

The only thing Joshua said was, “Oh, dear.”


End file.
